The present invention generally relates to foot-operated controls for motorcycles. More particularly, this invention relates to foot-operated gear shifting and braking controls incorporated into foot boards of a motorcycle to enable a rider to keep their feet on the foot boards at all times while shifting gears and applying brakes with simple rocking motions of the feet.
Foot boards (floor boards) are standard equipment for many motorcycles, and are provided as a more comfortable option to standard foot pegs. Foot boards are usually mounted in proximity to the foot-operated controls of a motorcycle, namely, the gear shifter lever located on the lefthand side of a motorcycle and a rear brake pedal on the righthand side of the motorcycle. U.S. Published Patent Application No. 2009/0272215 to Plackis shows the conventional location of a foot board beneath a gear shifter lever of a motorcycle. In contrast to a standard toe gear shifter configured for operation with the rider's toe, the gear shifter described in Plackis is a toe-and-heel gear shifter comprising interconnected front and rear arms. The front arm is forward of the foot board for operation with the rider's toe, while the rear arm is at the rear of the foot board for operation with the rider's heel. The arms are interconnected to facilitate the usual shifting pattern of a motorcycle. Using the movement of the front arm as reference, first gear is usually one position down from neutral while the remaining higher gears are engaged by multiple incremental positions up from neutral. The rear arm avoids the need to lift the front arm up with the toe as the rider shifts to higher gears by allowing the rider to use the heel to move the rear arm down to achieve upward movement of the front arm. Though not shown, a foot board is also presumably located slightly below and behind a rear brake pedal on the righthand side of the motorcycle.
The foot board shown in Plackis is positioned so that either the toe or heel of the rider's foot can be firmly supported by the foot board during the operation of the gear shifter. For this reason, the foot board is rigidly attached to the motorcycle frame, such that the board cannot move while supporting the rider's feet, including during operation of the gear shifter.
Toe-and-heel gear shifters are often more convention to operate than a standard toe shifter because the rider is not required to lift his or her toe when shifting to higher gears. However, riders may still find a toe-and-heel shifter to be somewhat difficult to operate. For example, certain riders that have suffered lower leg injuries may find it difficult to lift their toe off the foot board and onto the front arm in order to downshift and/or lift their heel off the foot board and onto the rear arm in order to upshift.